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Viviane Michel, president of the Quebec Native Women Inc., says she supports the amendments to Quebec's Youth Protection Act, but wants children's cultural identity more than simply "taken into account."Paul Chiasson/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

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QUEBEC — Three groups led by aboriginal women have told National Assembly hearings they strongly support thegovernment’s proposed changes to the Youth Protection Act, which aim to preserve the cultural identity of indigenous foster children.

Under Bill 99, for example, the cultural identity of an indigenous child requiring foster care would have to be “taken into account” when a placement is sought.

Thechanges would also help heal some of the deep wounds caused by residential schools and the so-called Sixties Scoop program, said residential school survivor and president of the Cree health board, Bella Petawabano.

“The purpose of the residential schools was to separate indigenous children from their families, to break up family ties, to break their link to their culture and identity, and to assimilate them into Canadian society,” she told a group of MNAs studying Bill 99 this week. “This is not just an abstract concept for me … at 10 years old, I was literally scooped out of the hunting territory of my parents and brought to live a very different life in a residential school, far from my parents, my family and my culture.”

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The residential schools system was in place from the 1880s to the mid-1970s and roughly 150,000 children were affected across Canada, including Quebec.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, the so-called Sixties Scoop followed, during which indigenous children were systematically removed from their homes by child welfare agencies and placed in non-indigenous homes.

A CBC investigation this week revealed that many children were sold to families outside the country, for $6,000 to $30,000.

Petawabano said the mistreatment resulted in an intergenerational cycle of neglect and abuse, which has had lasting impacts on indigenous families and communities.

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This dark history, she said, highlights the critical importance of the proposed amendments to Quebec’s Youth Protection Act.

Under Bill 99 an indigenous child placed in foster care would have to be “entrusted to an alternative living environment capable of preserving his cultural identity.” And, his community would have to be notified and co-operate, if necessary, in entrusting him to “one or more persons whose activities are under the responsibility of a Native community or group.”

Viviane Michel, president of Quebec Native Women, said she supports the bill but would have preferred that authorities do more than simply “take into account” a child’s cultural identity.

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“It’s more than something that needs to be considered,” added the organization’s legal advisor Cynthia Smith, “it constitutes a right.” They asked that the language in Bill 99 be strengthened.

“If I’m not proud of who I am, I will have difficulty going to school, I will have difficulty finding a job,” argued Tanya Sirois, general manager of the Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec, adding indigenous children in Canada are 12.4 per cent more likely to require foster care than non-indigenous children, and their health and well-being depend on ties they maintain with their community.

“You’re absolutely right; everyone needs to be proud of who they are,” responded Social Services Minister Lucie Charlebois, without agreeing, however, to amend Bill 99.

The proposals are among many changes to the Youth Protection Act in Bill 99. Hearings continue on Tuesday.

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